Surrender - A Lenten Discipline

 

“Surrender of the heart to God includes every possible way of obedience to God, because it means giving up one’s very being to God’s good pleasure.” This is from Jean-Pierre de Caussade, a French Jesuit priest who lived from the late 17^th to the mid 18^th century. This evokes thoughts of what Jesus said. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35).

            Of course, “those who lose their life for my sake” can mean many things. James, the older of the sons of Zebedee and one of the original 12, was beheaded by Herod because he was Jesus’ disciple (Acts 12:1-12). Christians in China in the late 20^th century experienced imprisonment due to their faith commitment. In these and many other cases, to lose one’s life for Jesus’ sake, was played out in real life, with faithful disciples literally dying or having their lives completely upended.

How do these words of Jesus apply in the lives of 21^st century American Christians? We don’t realistically fear imprisonment or bodily harm just because we have put our faith in Jesus. We are not punished for having claimed the Christian faith. In fact, every president in the history of the United States has claimed Christianity as their religious affiliation. Christians in America are free to express their faith.

De Caussade gets at my understanding of Jesus’ insistence that to follow him, we must give up our lives. In societies like ours, where Christians are not persecuted,  I think it comes down to personal surrender. What area of your life have you kept from Jesus. Does He get all of you, except that portion of the day you devote to online porn or online gambling? Do you partake of those harmful vices and just keep Jesus out of it?

Or maybe your marriage, or your sex life outside of marriage. You claim to be under the lordship of Jesus everywhere, except your bedroom. There, you’ll make your own decisions. The way of Jesus is the way you have committed to walk, but you forget about that when you get to your bedroom door. He is not welcome into your most intimate places.

Or maybe the place you withhold your faith is your money. You attend worship. You read the Bible. You give to some causes and give to the church. You volunteer. However, money is very important to you, and the decisions you make in life indicate that your money rules how you live out your faith. When we die to self, lose our lives for his sake, then Jesus is lord of our money. It’s not the other way around.

You could think of other examples in life where one resists fully submitting to Christ. You could think of examples from your own life. That resistance is a great tension in one’s walk with the Lord. This year, during Lent, release that resistance. Fully surrender your heart, your mind, your life to Christ. As Jesus said in the first century AD, and the French priest reiterated in the 18^th century and many Chinese evangelicals demonstrated through personal sacrifice in their lives in the 20^th century, we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the Gospel. “Surrender of the heart to God includes …  giving up one’s very being to God’s good pleasure.”

Consider doing an audit of your life as a 2025 Lenten discipline. Identify an area you have not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. Between now, Ash Wednesday, March 5, and Easter Sunday, April 20, take intentional steps to surrender that area you’ve identified. Discover the sweet freedom of surrendering to Christ and living under his lordship.